Shopsmith Forums

I recently bought a Mark V Model 500, serial number says made in 1985, for $400. A bit high you may say but they are scarce in my neck of the woods. Seems to be lightly used and not abused. I have cleaned it up, there was some light rust on the ways which came off with penetrating fluid, fine steel wool and a soft towel. I have waxed the ways and tables and oiled it really good which quieted it down and made the speed control work a lot more smoothly. Had some issue with slipping belt but solved that by adjusting it.
The belts look to be in very good shape.

I put the Miter gauge together and noticed that the screw PN:514377 and washer PN:514376 that is normally on the end of the miter gauge arm are missing. My question has to do with this washer. What is its function. I had assumed, we all know what assuming does, that it was there to fit into a groove in the track in order to hold the gauge in the track. The problem is that the track on the table that was with the unit has NO groove. Is there supposed to be a groove as shown in pictures found on the internet? Do I have the wrong table? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I an retired Army and haven't actually been woodworking very long although i grew up cutting and milling timber for a living. I bought the shopsmith to augment my other tools and give me a horizontal boring capability. I will now sell 2 lathes and I drill press to make room in my shop.

The model 500 table doesn't have the ability to use the miter gauge with the washer attached. The model 510/520's do use that washer so what you have is the miter gauge from a newer machine but no problem it will work fine.

The function is as you expected, it gives you a little more confidence when the miter gauge is out in front of the table due to the support from the washer.

BTW welcome to the forum.

Ed

Thank you sir for your quick response. That brings up the question can i replace the model 500 table with another model table without going thru the expensive "upgrade" process or is this wishful thinking on my part?

highpockets1658 wrote:Thank you sir for your quick response. That brings up the question can i replace the model 500 table with another model table without going thru the expensive "upgrade" process or is this wishful thinking on my part?

Also thank you for your welcome.

That will be wishful thinking. You will find the shopsmith is very upgrade-able but it will cost you. It is more then the table that needs to be upgraded so the cost is for the whole system. They do come up from time to time on ebay but you have to watch what they are selling as sometimes they are not complete packages.

Ed

highpockets1658 wrote:That brings up the question can i replace the model 500 table with another model table without going thru the expensive "upgrade" process or is this wishful thinking on my part?

It is possible but not practical. To just replace the 500 table with a 510/520 table you would have to replace the fence, table carriage, upper and lower saw guards. The saw blade arbors, the sanding disk arbor and the lathe arm also need to be replaced as the ones for the 500 table are too short. The upgrade package includes these items and the floating tables, connecting rods and telescoping legs. Welcome to the forum.

thunderbirdbat wrote:

highpockets1658 wrote:That brings up the question can i replace the model 500 table with another model table without going thru the expensive "upgrade" process or is this wishful thinking on my part?

It is possible but not practical. To just replace the 500 table with a 510/520 table you would have to replace the fence, table carriage, upper and lower saw guards. The saw blade arbors, the sanding disk arbor and the lathe arm also need to be replaced as the ones for the 500 table are too short. The upgrade package includes these items and the floating tables, connecting rods and telescoping legs. Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the welcome and your response. I have been cruising youtube and shopsmith.com for several weeks since i decided i wanted "one of them there thangs" and have really enjoyed and learned a lot from you guys.

If you do not already have one, I suggest getting a 'miter gauge slot' extension. It extends the slot out from the front of the table thus allowing cross cutting wider stock. Be aware there was an earlier(rarely encountered) version that only works with the earlier main table(greenies and early goldies with the cast in front rail).

Add my 'welcome'.

JPG wrote:If you do not already have one, I suggest getting a 'miter gauge slot' extension. It extends the slot out from the front of the table thus allowing cross cutting wider stock. Be aware there was an earlier(rarely encountered) version that only works with the earlier main table(greenies and early goldies with the cast in front rail).

Add my 'welcome'.

Thanks for the recommendation and the welcome.

If you don't have it already or have not looked into getting a copy of the book Power Tool Woodworking for Everyone do so. It is a great resource on what you can do with a Shopsmith Mark V. These can be found at book sellers online for less than $10. Any of the editions except the first edition which was written for the Shopsmith Model 10's (also a lot more expensive) will help you. The latest, 4th edition, includes the use of the larger table systems of the 510/520 models. It's amazing what you can do with these machines from the first Model 10E made in 1947 to the Mark V and Mark 7 made today. Stand alone tool cannot do some of the things a Shopsmith can.

Enjoy, welcome to the forum and thank you for your service to our country.